Note to Donut 44 and anyone else who thinks withdrawing from Iraq will put an end to the war's drain on the economy: the highest spending year for WWII was .... 1993! Because that's the year a critical number of veterans claimed healthcare and other 'benefits'.

The current war is going to be even more expensive for even longer because:

1. soldiers don't die nearly as often as they used to, which, while sad, was cheap. These days they are much more likely to get injured, come home, go on disability and stay there for the rest of their lives. (NOTE: I totally support and am grateful to the soldiers who put their lives on the line and believe that their country have to make their welfare a first priority - however, it costs, big time.)

2. The amry's resources have been run down to such an extent that replacing the planes, cars, uniforms, weapons etc is going to take years to execute and cost billions more dollars that the US doesn't have, will have to borrow, and then pay even more interest on the loans.

3. Seeing as this whole war has been funded by loans anyway, which are not being paid off, the interest payments will go on for a VERY. LONG. TIME.

This whole foray of Dubya's is going to be paid for by our children and our children's children. Hope they appreciate it.

When someone ill wishes you like that you don't need to justify or explain anything - they need to be out of your life, immediately, and that's that.

Don't know if anyone has suggested this but how about a Greek Orthodox Priest - they'll know if this kind of thing is common among Greek mother in laws and if so they'll know how to lift it.

All the best to you - I know you can get out from under!

I love Play, I love 18. Wow - for Americans time moves fast. 1999 wasn't long ago - it's only eight years. How recent does something have to be to be considered recent? Ten minutes ago? I guess marketing moves fast. Once everyone has bought something it's time to move on ... I was listening to Bach's Brandenburg Concertos this morning - now, okay, that was written a long time ago. Play is still very very recent in my book.

Moby - I'm not irritated by you, we're very similar. You are one of the voices of my generation, just like Jason Bourne is the James Bond of our generation.

You take drugs, you're interested in Christianity, you care about suffering, you're eschew meat, you love dancing, you like sex with a stranger from time to time. This is how a lot of religious people and creative people have chosen to live for thousands of years. Don't knock it.

What's your point Andrew? Maybe I'm being obtuse here but are you saying this is the flavour of the month gloom prediction? Or are you saying it's uncanny how reports and books and politicians all start using the same phrases as though they've just emerged from the global unconscios? Please clarify.

Thanks for all the puns guys, I'm sitting here snorting in my coffee.

Hate the criticism of Hillary. For a woman who is powerful - actually scratch that - for a woman who wants to do anything apart from bake and have kids, everything about her, from her breasts to her tone of voice, is going to be problematised by someone, somewhere. But whatever they say - you dress like a tramp/you dress like a frigid man etc etc - the fundamental problem is this: what the hell do you think you're doing out of that box?

The best way forward is this: know that, whatever you do, someone's going to pick on you for it somewhere, so screw that and do what you feel like doing. Obviously Angela's doing that - wow, and they're gorgeous. European skin - sigh. The upside of never seeing the sun.

I agree with Cary that the LW may as well accept the fact that he's a musician and deal with his stuff that comes up around that - and the first thing coming up for him is that it's hard to do it sober. So - anything you want to do really well is hard. But you know even doing anything in a mediocre kind of a way becomes hard too - that seems to be what the LW is discovering. It's not like you can do a deal where you say - alright i won't follow my dream and in return I'll take a cushy easy life. There's no such deal. It's just life and it will have a lot more meaning if you face your fears and take the risks and make the sacrifices that are necessary to living your purpose.

I also wanted to add to the suggestion about taking up exercise. I recommend running at least twenty minutes a day and lifting weights. I am a writer and prone to obsessiveness and anxiety and I find doing this as a daily discipline, religiously, keeps me safe from a lot of self imposed dangers. As well as being an achievement to meet that challenge every day, there's something about physically exhausting yourself that seems to wear out the Nazi maniac critic in my brain.